Studies have shown we are generally more likely to trust the people we find attractive or have a “presence” about them. Those who “look the part” are more likely to receive our listening ears, our votes, our willingness to hire them, and our delegation of important roles to them. 1 Samuel highlights how the Israelites, including the prophet Samuel, fall into the trap of relying on the data their eyes are receiving. But God has a strong message about the reliability of our eyes in making value judgments. We explore and apply.

Is God really good? And is life according to His commandments really the good life? Asaph does some honest wrestling with those questions in Psalm 73, ones which become more difficult when we observe the luxury and ease which seems to accompany so many of the wicked.

Self-reflection is a necessary discipline. But it can only go so far into your inner thoughts, desires, and will. Only God can reach the deep recesses and bring to light what is hidden there. But are we willing to let Him do His searching and resulting conviction?

"This is who I am. What I do is human nature." We have commonly accepted that instinct, impulse, and inclination define the nature of being human. In fact, Friedrich Nietzsche labeled those who subscribe to the Christian system of ethics as "anti-natural fanatics." But what if instincts - although created good - have been distorted by an intruder into the system...and what we often feel we are living as part of being is actually a sub-human nature? What if the divine nature (that which characterizes God) is intended for us as well? So what are those characteristics and how can we share in them?

One of the ways the Bible relates the glory of God to us is through the idea of weight. And this intertwining of "heaviness" and "glory" is a major theme of the first few chapters of 1 Samuel. So what are the implications of the weight of God's presence - now? And in eternity?

Questions are essential to growth in our understanding. And questions are vital to the plot development in the Gospel of Matthew. In the first of a 3-part series examine some of the major questions raised in Matthew's Gospel, we tackle the identity questions which capture the ultimate question in Matthew - Who is Jesus?

Psalm 90 forces us to reflect on Time, including our frustrations with its speed and uncertainties. As we join Moses the author to reflect on time, we see a contrast between the divine perspective and the human one...and are led with wisdom to contemplate as we "number our days."